BROOMFIELD — There is some truth to the notion that girls in Colorado have a good chance of winning a state championship if they’re from Broomfield.
The Broomfield Eagles have won four consecutive Class 4A titles in girls basketball and Holy Family three straight in 3A. (Fellow in-town school Legacy has won four straight softball titles.)
The Eagles and Holy Family played before an overflow crowd at Holy Family on Saturday and bragging rights went to the Tigers, whose 51-46 victory proved, for one night at least, that being in a higher classification doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a better team.
“We just beat the best program in the state, man,” exuberant Tigers coach Ron Rossi said.
A 3-point barrage by Megan Chavez in the third quarter allowed Holy Family (15-0) to forge a small lead, and the top-ranked Tigers were able to hold off the late-charging Eagles despite a game-best 25 points from Tyana Medema.
“We wanted to come out and make the statement that you have to look at each team individually,” said Chavez, who drilled three of her four 3s in the third quarter. “You can’t just base it off, ‘These guys are 3A and these guys are 4A.’ Doesn’t matter which (classification), you can still have a great club.”
Broomfield (13-3), No. 2 in 4A, absorbed its first loss with its full squad intact. Its previous two came with Medema and Bre Wilber on suspension for breaking team rules. Still, the Eagles are 122-6 during their title reign.
“I told our girls that right now we’re a very good team,” Eagles coach Mike Croell said. “But if we’re going to be a championship team, we can’t keep leaving points on the floor.”
Broomfield missed 10 free throws, Holy Family only three. Tigers junior guard Stephanie Giltner made 8-of-9 at the line on her way to a team-high 16 points.
“We had a lot to prove,” Giltner said. “It was definitely cool to have a packed house to see this.”
“Classification doesn’t matter to us,” Rossi said, beaming. “We just wanted to play someone really good. That was our challenge.”
The Tigers will have another challenge Thursday, when they travel to Longmont in what figures to be a matchup of unbeaten squads.
Broomfield 10 11 11 14 — 46
Holy Family 7 12 17 15 — 51
Broomfield — Wilber 0 2-4 2, Nehf 2 2-4 6, Zec 3 0-0 7, Medema 8 7-10 25, Burgesser 1 0-1 2, Prins 0 0-2 0, Rynearson 1 2-2 4. Totals 15 13-23 46.
Holy Family — Helbig 3 1-1 8, Chavez 5 0-0 14, Talamantes 2 3-4 7, Giltner 4 8-9 16, Williamson 0 0-0 0, Zeman 0 0-0 0, Gutierrez 1 1-2 4, Johannsen 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 13-16 51.
3-point goals — Medema 2, Zec; Chavez 4, Helbig, Gutierrez. Total fouls — Broomfield 16, Holy Family 17. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None.
